Petrol price variations

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Petrol price variations

quickymart

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#307022 13-Sep-2023 09:17

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/whangarei-fuel-price-hits-3-a-litre-and-residents-want-answers/2AVNVEI5JFABXB66O6MJ75WPQQ/

I find this quite perplexing. Just finished a holiday down south and when I left Auckland, 91 was around $3.01 a litre. At Pak'N'Save Lower Hutt I saw it for $2.76 and in Christchurch it was $2.81 (from memory).

Got back to Auckland and I think it was $3.02.

But why such a variation? Why is Whangarei so expensive? Is it just because there's little-to-no competition? Does Marsden Point being nearby have no bearing on transportation costs?

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#3126866 13-Sep-2023 09:20

Locals here (Whangaparaoa) queried as to why our petrol was higher than others.... Z's response was "you're not on a main highway so it costs more in transport".

And they all play that game..... yet even some of those on main highway now are more expensive than our local.

So its all BS.

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quickymart

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#3126878 13-Sep-2023 09:33

Apparently it costs the same to get fuel to Haast as it does to Waiheke Island too (I remember reading somewhere). God only knows how much it costs in those places at the moment.

frankv

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#3126919 13-Sep-2023 10:42

It's a capitalist market... prices are whatever the market will stand. Even the new entrants like NPD who initially had low prices quickly realise that there's more profit to be made by joining the oligopoly.

outdoorsnz

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#3126924 13-Sep-2023 10:50

xpd:

Locals here (Whangaparaoa) queried as to why our petrol was higher than others.... Z's response was "you're not on a main highway so it costs more in transport".

And they all play that game..... yet even some of those on main highway now are more expensive than our local.

So its all BS.

It is indeed complete BS! I recently drove to Christchruch from Waikouaiti (North Of Dunedin). Huge variation in fuel prices where there was NPD / Waitomo / Tasman, but elsewhere just price gouging. Something like 35 cents difference.

qwertee

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#3126926 13-Sep-2023 10:50

I always fill up at NPD in Christchurch.

Again variations by about 10 to 15 cents between the locations: Hornby , Islington, Wigram, Sockburn , Yaldhurst.
Then I thought maybe the ones that have the retail shop are more expensive but this logic doesnt seem to fly.

My fav goto is the Hornby one which often has the cheapest.

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Linux

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#3126953 13-Sep-2023 11:38

If fuel pricing was the same at all petrol stations then the thread would be about price fixing!

Qazzy03

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#3126955 13-Sep-2023 11:42

Auckland has an additional 10cent + GST per litre fuel tax.

So that will account for some differences, otherwise it is usually on how much the market will bare imo. In my anecdotal experience Palmy fuel stations are often 30 cents cheaper than Wellington, including stations on the main transport routes.

NZTA fuel tax

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vexxxboy

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#3126982 13-Sep-2023 12:22

It isnt transport costs because if it were Tauranga , where the fuel is stored, would be cheaper than Rotorua but on average it is 10 cents a litre more expensive than Rotorua.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

ockel

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#3127034 13-Sep-2023 13:03

xpd:

Locals here (Whangaparaoa) queried as to why our petrol was higher than others.... Z's response was "you're not on a main highway so it costs more in transport".

And they all play that game..... yet even some of those on main highway now are more expensive than our local.

So its all BS.

Its general pocket pricing. No different than the days when TelstaSaturn were doing truckrolls and Telecom would drop their prices on a street-by-street basis. It wasnt anti competitive then according to the ComCom. No different than price variations within the supermarket chains depending on the socio-economic status of the suburb that they're based in.

Pays to shop around and unless the ComCom wants uniform pricing (which it would decry as collusion) then price variations are the result of competition. ComCom was in the media saying the cost of fuel in Whangarei was higher than the rest of the country - anecdotally the security required at servos is probably higher given the number of stabbings relative to the rest of the country.

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quickymart

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#3127099 13-Sep-2023 13:37

Um, I don't think it's that. And if all the prices in the town are more expensive than another town a fair way away, "shopping around" isn't really an option. No one is going to drive 100kms just to save 10c a litre on fuel.

xpd

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#3127106 13-Sep-2023 13:53

You'd spend the saving on the travel.

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Earbanean

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#3127119 13-Sep-2023 14:09

Well I'm loving slowly working my way through the 1,000 litres of 95 I bought at $2.51 with the Z app Sharetank before prices went up. Each time I drive past a station with $3.30 price, I have a little smile. Actually, not that little.

cddt

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#3127136 13-Sep-2023 14:35

Variance between different parts of Auckland is at least 20-25 cents per litre.

mudguard

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#3127139 13-Sep-2023 14:39

Earbanean:

Well I'm loving slowly working my way through the 1,000 litres of 95 I bought at $2.51 with the Z app Sharetank before prices went up. Each time I drive past a station with $3.30 price, I have a little smile. Actually, not that little.

I should look up and see what the last 1000 litres have cost me.

$3.13 for 91 in Greymouth today.

Earbanean

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#3127151 13-Sep-2023 15:18

mudguard:

I should look up and see what the last 1000 litres have cost me.

$3.13 for 91 in Greymouth today.

It's not so much what the last 1,000 litres have cost you, but what your cost per litre has been since the fuel tax relief was removed on 30 June. I loaded up on 24 June.

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